Resetting a breaker: a homeowner's how-to guide

What is a breaker and what does it do?

Every home with electrical access has an electrical panel (also called a breaker box or a service panel). Depending on the age and build of your home, you may have either fuses or breakers in this panel. For the purposes of this article, we will be talking about panels with circuit breakers.

Home electrical panels act as the hub for the electrical access of a building. Panels are the main hub for electricity supplied by a service line to be distributed to all areas of a home. From this panel, the electrical infrastructure splits into multiple branches throughout the house called circuits.

These circuits connect to your outlets, lights, and powered devices in your home. When one of these circuits isn’t functioning, it can be a major inconvenience.

Sometimes when a circuit isn’t functioning it’s because a breaker in your panel has tripped. This can happen because an overload of electricity was detected and the breaker tripped to protect the home and devices from damage.

There are many reasons an overload could be detected, from a larger electrical issue to something as simple as having too many devices plugged in at once.

The first thing to do to help determine if an electrician is required is to try to reset the breaker. This can be achieved using the simple steps below:

Step 1: Turn off lights and devices on the circuit

Even if a light or device is currently powered down due to a tripped breaker, turn all switches off and unplug any electronic devices on the circuit to avoid sending a surge to and possibly damaging your electronics.

Step 2: Identify the tripped breaker

Typically, breakers will be labeled on and off. A tripped breaker will either be in the “off” position or will be in the middle position between “on” and “off”. The chart on the inside of the door should show the rooms or devices that correspond to the breaker.

Step 3: Reset the breaker

Turn the breaker switch all the way to the “off” position and then back all the way to the “on” position. Breakers can sometimes be difficult to move so don’t be surprised if it takes some force.

Step 4: If the breaker trips again

There are many reasons why a breaker will trip. There could be too many things plugged in, a specific issue with one of your electronics, faulty wiring, or other electrical issues.

If the breaker holds after being reset, but trips again after plugging an item in, it could be that there is an issue with the device. If the breaker trips immediately or continues to trip, it’s important not to continuously reset it. This could indicate a larger issue or possibly that the breaker itself needs to be replaced. Give our team a call and we can help you determine the cause of the overload and the steps necessary to correct it.